Papers, c. 1800-c. 1900.

ArchivalResource

Cheever family. Papers, c. 1800-c. 1900.

Papers, c. 1800-c. 1900.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/207124390

This collection consists primarily of the correspondence, diaries, and papers of these four Cheevers. Much of the correspondence is between family members, including letters to and from Charlotte Cheever, a pious matriarch. The majority of the items were generated by George Barrell Cheever, the sibling who achieved the greatest prominence throughout his controversial career. There are many letters between George and his mother Charlotte, George and his sister Elizabeth, and letters from George to his wife Elizabeth Hoppin Wetmore Cheever (d. 1886). There is also much correspondence to him from members of his congregations and from persons active in the myriad causes for which he worked: abolitionism, temperance reform, nativism, and defence of capital punishment. For many years Cheever wrote for the Independent and various newspapers, and this collection includes copies of his articles as well as clippings of articles about him from both British and American newspapers. There are originals, drafts, and copies of poems by Cheever, and there are miscellaneous legal documents, sermons, lectures, and notes. Elizabeth Washburn devoted herself to the care of her mother and service of her brothers until her marriage in 1858 to the Worcester industrialist Ichabod Washburn. Washburn died in 1868 leaving a very large estate which generated several legal fights, and there is some material in this collection dealing with those problems. Most of Elizabeth's correspondence is to and from family members, including a large network of cousins, aunts, and uncles. Like the rest of her family, she was zealously religious and her letters and journals reflect unceasing concern for the spiritual health of herself and family members. Her letters, descriptive and informative, are a good source for the daily events of the family. Like his older brother George, Henry was educated at Bowdoin College and Andover Theological Seminary and was ordained to the Congregational ministry. As a young man he travelled with his brother Nathaniel (whose health was precarious) and wrote articles for the New York Evangelist describing the trips. His clerical career was frequently affected by dissension within the pastorates he held in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Worcester, Mass. He was a prohibitionist, advocate of women's rights, and early supporter of the liberal movement in the Congregational Church. Nathaniel Cheever spent most of his life trying to stay alive by travelling and taking long sea voyages. The collection includes journals he kept when 13 years old and correspondence while he was away from home. The collection also contains (in box #25) a "commonplace book," 1820-1823, kept by Mary Pindar Cheever (1811- ), possibly in Danvers, Mass. Mary Pindar Cheever copied into the book various poems, letters, and newspaper articles which interested her. Several friends also wrote lengthy poems into her book. The titles include "Autumn flowers," "The Clift," and "The burial of the young."

26 boxes.9 v. ; folio.

American Antiquarian Society